Since the Polynesian voyagers set
foot on Hawaii about 1500 years ago, at least one thousand creatures have become
extinct. Having evolved in isolation, native species were not equipped to
survive the onslaught of predators introduced with human arrival. Among the
first species to be lost were the 20 species of flightless birds - easy prey for
hunters - including the large tortoise-jawed moanalo, known today only
from skeletal remains.

The first Polynesian settlers who
beached their canoes on the Big Island, explored the forest, hunting birds for
food and for their colourful feathers, as well as gathering leaves for medicine.
The original Hawaiians cleared lowland forests to cultivate the plants they
brought with them such as breadfruit, bananas, sugar cane and taro. They also
brought small pigs whose presence led to the extinction of at least 35 species
of birds.

Flightless moa nalo, now
extinct on the Hawaiian islands.

Captain James Cook, who arrived in
1778, took matters further. Word of his discovery spread throughout the west,
and other ships soon followed. Over the next several decades, outsiders
introduced cattle, goats, sheep, and large European pigs. Eventually, many of
these animals escaped and flourished in a paradise without cold winters or
natural predators. The Europeans and those who came after changed the islands
more in 200 years than the Polynesians had in 1,400 years.

The Hawaiian islands, the earth's
most remote archipelago,

harbours more than a third of the birds and plants on
the endangered

and threatened species list. Most find refuge
among hilly terrain too steep

for development, such as the Koolau Range, which overlooks Honolulu.

As time went on, a vast agricultural
empire arose. By 1900, the demand for wood and pasture land had denuded much of
the forest areas. Government agencies reforested hillsides with alien trees like
eucalyptus and pine in the early 1900s. In the following decades, developers
poured concrete over beaches and drained the wet lands.

Rats came ashore in Polynesian
canoes and European ships. The rats ate bird eggs and spread alien seeds carried
in their furs and droppings. Avian diseases along with competitions from
newcomers, predators, and habitat loss have contributed to the extinction of 27
species and subspecies of birds since the arrival of Captain Cook.